You have a lot in common with the octopus. You may not know this, but you see things the same. I don’t mean from a personal perspective (although the octopus may like strictly come dancing as much as the next human), but from a physiological perspective. Let me explain: the human and octopus eyes bear more than a passing resemblance. Both have a lens, a variable aperture, and a fovea. This is a textbook example of convergent evolution. Both animals have evolved to the same design because this is the best structure to solve the animals need to see its surroundings.
I came across another example of convergent evolution recently whilst attending the IPA’s Digital Innovation day. Roughly speaking, the day consisted of speed dating event, with some healthy debate and presentations thrown in for good measure. The purpose was to showcase some of the good work going on in the UK’s academic institutes and start a dialogue between media agencies with the desired outcome being some sort of synergy and joint project work.
What I found absolutely stunning, was how virtually the same technologies were being developed within the universities and digital media. With often the biggest difference being the name. One such example is behavioural targeting and computational persuasive technologies. Both consist of delivering personalised messaging to encourage a particular behaviour – whether it be stop smoking, or to choose a particular provider for your car insurance renewal.
The UK is purported to have the world’s most advanced digital economy, and there are reasons for and against that argument. Broadband penetration and bandwidth is a big part of the drive to keep that top spot, but technology and innovation should be given equal emphasis.
Coming up with ideas is one thing, but what is more important is that the great ideas get turned into commercial products. Judging from what I saw, media agencies can perform pivotal a role in facilitating this.
Well done to the IPA for having the foresight to set up such an event!
